Hyouka – 17

Stories focusing on greatness are quite commonplace, but what about the stories of those who must live in the shadow of greatness? For the most part, Hyouka has been centered on one undeniably great detective and his exploits, and everyone else’s awe and admiration for the uncanny talents of deduction that led to these exploits. In this school festival arc however, we have seen that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows; there are the hints of dissent, discontent, and disappointment amongst Houtarou’s friends. With this new development in hand, Hyouka turns what might have been another run-of-the-mill “great detective pieces together clues and solves the mystery” episodes into one that shifts the focus onto the motivations of the perpetrator. And by doing so, the series takes a fresh and in-depth look at the characters who live in the shadow of greatness.

Save for Houtarou, none of the main characters featured in this arc were immune to this burden. Satoshi, Chitanda, Mayaka, and Tanabe are all in one way or another influenced by a friend or acquaintance whose skill and talent casts a long shadow over them. As a consequence, they either form unrealistic expectations for greatness either for themselves or for their friends, which come as the result of the high standards set by the talented individual. Yet as we saw in this arc, these expectations inevitably collide with reality and the result is some good old fashioned character introspection and development with a hint of Hyouka-style mystery mixed in.

Chitanda

For Chitanda, the person whom she looked up to and aspired to be more like was Irisu. While I do think her persuasive skills are to be admired, they are also to be feared as well, so because of this, I couldn’t really see Chitanda pulling it off. Show text ▼

She’s a wide-eyed girl who is much too harmless and innocent to incite any kind of intimidation – something both she and Irisu realize. I wasn’t at all surprised that she took the criticism so well; despite her demeanor, Chitanda has always struck me as quite level-headed when it comes to knowing her own strengths and weaknesses, and she quickly embraced her straightforwardness as a virtue. All in all though, Chitanda played a comparatively smaller role in this arc, which is something I don’t mind at all considering how much more interesting the stories of the rest of the cast were.

Satoshi

Satoshi’s struggles with being in the shadow of greatness were one of the most visible of the series, considering they revolved around the expectations set by Houtarou and then his own expectations of catching the Juumoji culprit. Show text ▼

I felt like he was a character who was affected a great deal by the gulf in talent levels, even if he tried hard not to show it to others save for a brief lapse with Mayaka by his side. Satoshi might still be a little depressed after the realization of how large of a gap there was between his skills as a detective and Houtarou’s, but there’s no denying he accepts his friend’s greatness and seems to be mostly content with what he himself can bring to the table, which is being a database. Witnessing Houtarou work his magic and surpassing Satoshi’s expectations probably helped him as well because he knew everything would be in good hands with Houtarou behind the wheel.

Mayaka

Mayaka’s story has been brewing for a while now so it has had ample time and opportunity to develop in a wholly organic way. It’s also one of my favorite stories of the arc because in addition to raising the question of how a masterpiece is recognized, it was also a story that began feeling like a side story but ended up becoming an important piece in the Juumoji puzzle. Show text ▼

Key to understanding Mayaka is knowing that she aspires to create her own manga and the fact that she didn’t exactly live in the shadow of greatness, but instead was inspired by a great manga to search for the people who made it. For her, the writers and artists of “A Corpse by Evening” weren’t friends or acquaintances and so I felt she would have no problem living with them, meeting them. Yet when she found out that even her senpai Kouchi was a hundred times more talented than she was, the tears that came forth spelled out her feelings (and also Kouchi’s) perfectly. It was all too poetic in the way Kouchi was in the same boat as Mayaka – she too loved manga and then found it too hard to bear when a friend turned out to be a hundred times as talented as she was at writing manga. The sad but all too real truth is that no matter who you are, in all likelihood there is someone who is more talented than you, better than you. Instead of becoming depressed, channel your emotions and energy into being the best you can be. Clichéd, but good advice nonetheless.

Tanabe

It’s a testament to Hyouka’s excellent writing that even with knowing all that Houtarou is capable of, the train of thought that led to the revelation that student council vice-president Tanabe Jirou was the man behind the thefts was still awe-inspiring (as was Houtarou’s blackmailing plan to sell the rest of the anthologies). Show text ▼

Yet this episode didn’t make Houtarou’s deductive process the centerpiece of the episode, instead focusing on the motivations of the perpetrator. Tanabe, despite being quite accomplished himself, also lives in the shadow of greatness much like the others, with the person in question being his friend Kugayama Muneyoshi (Morikawa Toshiyuki), the student council president. Tanabe’s issue is twofold: one, there is a hint of jealousy towards Kugayama’s artistic talents, and two, there is frustration that Kugayama will no longer fulfill his potential and the expectations that Tanabe has of him. I’m sure there’s a much better way to tell Kugayama, an artist, than concocting such a convoluted message that only a great detective was able to figure out. I do love how closely it tied into Mayaka’s favorite manga though. Lesson learned from Tanabe: passive aggressive approaches seldom work.

The shift in focus and tone away from a Houtarou and mystery-centric story is made all the more impressive considering how almost all of the character side stories and development ends up heavily intertwined into the main mystery itself. All their plights are quite understandable as their emotions and behavior are wonderful examples of the same emotions and behavior we feel when living in the shadow of greatness. Hyouka’s latest arc has been one of the most entertaining school festival arcs I can remember, and its novel approach to mystery has been a complete joy to watch as well. With the series looking like it is approaching the final stretch, I feel it might be hard to top this arc but then again I can’t say for certain because I’m no Houtarou… yet.

Sorry for the late post again, was busy but things are clearing up and everything should be more or less on time once more.

Brilliant summary, I like how you made a section for each character to go into an in-depth analysis there :)
I think everyone has been through the feeling of “there’s always someone better than you” it really helped empathizing with Mayaka and Satoshi’s story.

This episode was kind of sad… Satoshi’s inferiority complex really was visceral and was successfully conveyed through the brilliant animation of Satoshi’s expressions… suffice to say, it was painful to watch.

Hyouka has shown itself capable of tackling not only mysteries, but the human condition.

Although… KyoAni did take their time. They’re really good at subtle buildups… almost TOO good.

I wouldn’t say inferiority complex is the right description for Fukube, as it requires him to fear failure in general, ignore his incapabilities, avoid related tasks, and put blame on others. It’s more of an awakening: as kids we’re told that we can do anything if we dream it and work hard for it, but it’s during adolescence that we discover that all of us have ceilings… though some are naturally placed higher for others.

While nearly all of us viewers thought that someone is stealing various items from various clubs as a prank, none of us, i dare say (except those who have read the light novels), would’ve guessed the final outcome. Kudos to you Honobu Yonezawa, for creating this masterpiece.

Its more than that. Oreki actually had to get OUT of his seat, while carrying 30 copies (pretty heavy) of Hyouka to take to Tanabe before “blackmailing” him. For someone like Oreki that’s heavy lifting. It just shows that Oreki was willing to put some effort to help his club succeed. That’s very subtle character development.

I love how at the begining of this arc Oreki initially only picked to man the sales because it was easy but then by the end was excite (well as excite as Oreki can get) about selling them out as well. ^-^

“Yet when she found out that even her senpai Kouchi was a hundred times more talented than she was, the tears that came forth spelled out her feelings (and also Kouchi’s) perfectly.”

I saw this differently. To me she cried because she related to her senpai’s pain, and she did that by realizing she herself saw senpai’s manga as the second best (this happened an episode or two ago, when she was looking for her edition of “A Corpse by the Evening”).

This whole school festival arc is so beautifully animated, that my eyes is just fix on what’s happening in the background and couldn’t care less about the Juumoji Case. The moment that Houtarou started talking nonstop, I just have to stop the video and watch the whole arc again. ><

Why can’t I but wonder if the story of great expectations is also about what we expect from Kyoani (and what they brilliantly delivered in this episode?)
A detective story without real crimes done so perfectly I can only gape in amazement…http://randomc.net/image/Hyouka/Hyouka%20-%2017%20-%20Large%2039.jpg my reaction to episode, exactly!

I like how each arc acknowledges a topic touched upon by the previous arc and builds upon it. I couldn’t help but remember Irisu’s story about the two runners here. It’s bittersweet in a way. We want to cheer on those that are great, but deep down we also want to be cheered on too. But, Hyouka through this arc and Irisu’s story basically says that “no matter how much effort you put in, you cannot surpass those with great talent”.

Which sounds downright depressing and unfair, since you cannot always choose whether you have talent or predilection for something that you can wholly excel in. Here, Hyouka shows how expectations and everyone who had expectations has ultimately surrendered to this fact, that they can never match those who they see with talent. Which is the only thing that I disliked from this arc. It almost seems that Hyouka is telling us that we should give up in the face of greatness, because our hard work will not even bring us close to the great and talented who barely lift a finger. While it may be discouraging to know that you’ll never be as great, I firmly believe that people should never give up. So, I hope that Satoshi continues his personal ambition (not to be greater than Houtaro but to strive for greatness). To Hyouka from someone who lacks talent but has relentless determination: People who are severely disadvantaged by sheer lack of talent but continue to persevere can still achieve great things.

Otherwise, a wonderful conclusion that tied everything together (well, almost, I’m disappointed by the lack of resolution with the Manga Club bullies), and I look forward to the next arc.

This is still my number anime for the season… the visuals are stunning, the writing is subtle, laid back but great in its own way and genre, the mysteries very detailed (if you know how to read the clues)… i daresay this anime is still a level away from most in its genre. NICE!!!

WOW. I didn’t see that coming at all! In the end, is it always the attractive one who’s the culprit??
The whole of this School Festival Arc = BRILLIANT! I didn’t *expect* Hyouka to blow my mind with its ability to paint the human nature so well, highlighting aspects of “inferiority complex” as reasons behind the mystery. Everything ties in extremely nicely.
On another note, how lucky is Houtarou for having Tomoe as his sister? That random (or is it deliberate?) busted pen of her practically saved the whole day, when I think back about it.

Its about time Hyouka shows how great it can be. After this arc, I can finally say without a doubt that Hyouka is indeed a worthy KyoAni production.

I love how everything came together. Looking back at the previous episodes, they all seem like a waste of time. But this episode tied them all together in a neat package all on a single theme of expectations. Its amazing how Hyouka can do something as mundane as a school festival and make it funny, dramatic and interesting while giving character development.

I just went Awe when he explained everything, lol’d went he went from master-detective to master-blackmailer and squee’d for some reason when I did a slow clap when he was finished, only for Tanabe to do it to. (Him being voiced Fukuyama Jun only made everything better.)

The only thing I didn’t like as much was the “side” story of Mayaka. Not that it was bad, only a bit hard to follow with the focus more on the Juumoji incident.

“living in the shadow of greatness” that’s like the definition of an older sibling, which Houtaru is also affected by. I bet Houtaru’s older sister is also so amazing which is part of the reason why Houtaru doesn’t feel like putting forth effort in many of the activities.

I thought of the same thing when everyone else’s souls were being crushed by the “Greater Ones”(Kugayama, the missing Haruna Anjou, Irusu and, ironically enough, Kouchi)

Something must have triggered Houtarou’s decision to go over to the Grey Side. I am pretty sure it was his big sister. Whatever deductive skills Houtarou has inherited, his sister’s power levels must be over 9000.

You didn’t think Tomoe just happened to have that manga with her did you?

Satoshi is to Houtarou as Robin is to Batman: living at the shadow of a much larger icon. At least, Satoshi had the decency to put off his jealousy mask and accept that he’s miles away from Batman… I mean, Houtarou (I was expecting that he would say “I’m Batman” or “Bond… James Bond” when Tanabe ask his name)
Mayaka knew since the beggining that she still has a lot of road ahead, so the revelation wasn’t as traumatic for her as it was in Satoshi’s case.
As for Chitanda… I wouldn’t like her to be another person. She’s fine as she is now.

Translation has been put on hiatus as my computer has crashed and died for good (I am logging on via a public terminal), but hopefully I should get a replacement soon.

BTW I’m going to go off-topic again and raise the issue of downvoting once again. For some time recently, even YouTube and Sankaku Complex no longer reveal how many upvotes or downvotes each user receives, nor reveal the aggregate score, but anyone with a high enough score will get his post highlighted, and a low enough score will get his vote collapsed. I think this works better and is less distracting than having to be discouraged by downvoters disagreeing with you when you genuinely could not think of any reason why they would downvote you.

I see. Hope you get a replacement soon. I’ve been dying to read your translated version of the novel. :)

Oh btw, I definitely agree with you. Then again, everyone has their own way of viewing things. So that’s probably why you can’t think of a reason of why’d they downvote you. (forgive me if I said something wrong, my mind is kinda fuzzy :3 )

Again, I had something to say, but I clicked on that Double Kininarimasu pic, and I forgot what I had to say. XD

To imagine that I was going to disregard Hyouka as some pretty moe-centric series when I first heard of it. I can’t help but think about how foolish I was to assume that, more so after each new episode. Talk about expectations, Hyouka exceeded mine more than I could have imagined.

I also felt there was an additional component layered on top of the disappointment for people who see others who excel, seemingly without trying, at a thing they wish they themselves could do and I think it’s where Chitanda Eru actually shines through this arc. Usually this feeling of jealousy occurs for an activity that we *want* to do. So we see that other people can do that activity so naturally and seemingly easily, and they may not even seem to care about it, and that’s what’s frustrating. What is frequently forgotten is that there is probably something else that we are good at, that we similarly dismiss the ability or effort.

So while we are disappointed in not doing something we want to do well, we shouldn’t discount the abilities that we do have. Chitanda shows this in realizing that she should stick with who she is. Satoshi realizes what he’s good at, but he discounts it too much and still wants to do something else. I can’t really see how Ibara feels about it, because she’s such a closed character, and they haven’t really examined what it is that she does well. But I think the message is something that we should all keep in mind.

“Chitanda played a comparatively smaller role in this arc, which is something I don’t mind at all considering how much more interesting the stories of the rest of the cast were.” — Usually it’s when Chitanda becomes a background character that things get interesting. We see less of Houtarou being under control by her googly eyes more of him making silent inferences, analyzing his situation and environment, and making solid conclusions at liberty.

All of us have gone through Satoshi (and Mayaka) moments. Some are more familiar with them than others. But as social mammals, we must learn to sometimes step back, accept our fate, and prepare ourselves to remain in second place under someone’s shadow for the rest of our lives. There’ll always be someone better than us at something, with more beauty and charisma and creativity and academic knowledge and leadership skills. Like how one Demotivational poster stated, sometimes giving our most and best is sill no where near good enough. This is why there are more people doing all-nighters now than the in the history of mankind.

This arc was definitely amazing. I had no idea where they were going with this at all, so the suspense was great! I really enjoyed this arc.

It bothers me though… how the heck was Kugayama supposed to get that message? I mean, it was so difficult… Houtarou had to do this massive explanation on how he got it, so if it was mean for Kugayama, how was Kugayama supposed to get it?

Nevertheless, Hyouka is an amazing series~ Looking forward to the next few episodes.

Tanabe’s antics was supposed to be the plot of Kudryavka’s Order. If Kugayama really had read the manuscript that Anjou wrote he would get the message. That’s why Tanabe and Houtarou conclude at the end that Tanabe’s message was really ‘Have you read Kudryavka’s Order?’

It’s interesting, sometimes, to wonder whether Sherlock ever resented Mycroft. By the time of Doyle’s novels the brothers got along pretty well, but Sherlock was never shy to admit that Mycroft would have been the greater detective if the latter had put his mind to it. Maybe there was a time, in his younger years, when Sherlock struggled as always being, at most, second best, no matter his incredible talents.

Obviously we have a comparable relationship between Houtarou and his sister, but it’s also somewhat replicated between Houtarou and Satoshi. As mentioned in earlier comments, Houtarou’s unwillingness to try hard at anything may be because that deep down he thinks that he will never surpass his sister. Satoshi, though, also exhibits a similar complex. His interests are far ranging indeed, but he never devotes 100% to any of his hobbies. As we see from the episodes so far Satoshi flits from one interest from another, driven by impulse and never committing. The difference between Satoshi and Houtarou is that Satoshi is somewhat self aware. Satoshi tells Houtarou in earlier episodes that no matter how big a Holmes fan he (Satoshi) is, he will never be the best Sherlockian. No matter how accomplished he is as a database he will never be the trivia king. Indeed, Mayaka is the bigger mystery buff. Someone else won the Kanya Festival trivia contest.

In this arc Satoshi thought for a moment that he could play the Sherlock to Houtarou’s Mycroft. Sherlock, unlike Mycroft, is quite willing to get his hands wet visiting crime scenes and trailing suspects. So while Houtarou lounges about the Diogenes Club(room) Satoshi goes to catch the crook. That he still loses to Houtarou is really quite harsh; for once Satoshi thinks he could be best at something, but still comes out as number two. It’s the kind of experience that can drive one to being grey all their life.

Really good arc here, and I love your impressions. I didn’t quite connect it by myself, so it was interesting.
One thing I really liked was Irisu’s role in this arc. She came off much warmer and even cuter. I’m thinking of the way she spoke to Satoshi about magic and the way she advised Chitanda. And who can forget that “eek!” sound she made when Chitanda requested her help? I couldn’t help but notice how different she seemed in the company of Chitanda as opposed to Houtarou. It makes me think we haven’t seen the last of her in the coming arcs.

Satoshi’s jealousy of Houtarou’s ability, coupled with his underestimation of his own, calling himself “only a database”, would really make a good subject to explore more. as Passerby puts it, the difference between the two is an echo to the Holmes brothers: one is willing to do physical work to solve a mystery, one isn’t.

Not doing anything, letting the clues come to Houtarou, and solving it, beating Satoshi who was chasing the clues instead, this show is really mean to him like that.

There was one point that no one had mentioned. Satoshi, Mayaka, Kouchi and the boy Houtarou blackmailed had an even greater frustration. The people they admired for their abilities were indifferent to their own talents. The author and illustrator of “A Corpse by Evening” had no intention of doing another manga and Houtarou doesn’t want to exert himself with detective work. That must be painful for the others. To have someone with talents, that you would give anything to have, not care about them was a major theme in the story.

Great episode. I thought I Satoshi was gonna be sulking but he took quite a sport here. Or so I think he did. On the other hand, Mayaka’s part was kinda heart breaking. She was really trying to talk Ayako into reading it and hearing her opinion. When she realized that Ayako was the artist for that very manga she considers a benchmark for her own work it was all guilt trip her down there and that was pretty hard.

I love how this arc supports the previous arc. Oreki’s talk with Tanabe was something. It was nice to see Oreki’s reaction when Tanabe said that Kugayama only did the manga for fun and hadn’t had any interest in making another.

Fantastic episode and conclusion to one of the most enjoyable arcs in the series so far (and maybe the best school festival shown in anime ever) .. but also got to say that’s some fantastic analysis too, the choice of starting the analysis with the theme “what about the stories of those who must live in the shadow of greatness?” and the detailed character-specific explanations really made me see the episode in a new way .. i kinda felt this theme dominating the episode but couldn’t put in in words like this.

Thanks for the post Verdant, Takaii’s set some high expectations… but you’ve given us a wonderful analysis of the end of a wonderful arc of Hyouka.

This arc made it a lot of fun to see more into the daily lives and motivations of each of our characters. Especially Mayaka and Satoshi. Satoshi’s efforts to solve the case w/out Houtaro’s help, and Mayaka’s case to prove herself to her own club (dang she gets treated like shit there D:!) But, in the end, Houtarou leaves Satoshi in the dust, just as the skills of the people Mayaka aspires to, and the skills of the people who she aspires, aspire to. Made ya think, and I enjoyed it.

Nice to have a thinker that isnt also a heart wrencher (I’m looking at you Kokoro Connect >__>!)

Excellent analysis, as always, verdant! Thanks for pointing out how each of the characters had to deal w/ the shadow of greatness in different ways.

For me, this has been a masterpiece of an anime arc. Everything tied together at so many levels. The depiction of the characters’ feelings was superb. Animation quality was stellar. Mayaka was adorable. Irisu x Chitanda was asome. And all of this within like two days of a humble school festival!

The conclusion of this arc and its message – the feelings of those who live in the shadow of greatness – really struck home for me. It had a bittersweet ring to it, but thanks to reading your analysis I can also take way from it a sense of inspiration. ;_; You have my utmost thanks for that, Verdant.

I think the Jun Sekitani/Hyouka arc is still my favorite, but this Juumoji arc has now nudged aside the Murder Mystery Film arc to be my second most beloved!